Car: Megane 1.6e (1.6 8v K7M engine, 1998 model)
I was out for a drive yesterday when the temperate gauge rose to near the maxiumum after an hour or so. Not sure how long it had been there, as I'm never usually take much notice of it as it always sits bang on 50% (should be more observant!). So I parked up and let the thing cool off for an hour or so. Checked the coolant level had dropped below minimum in the expansion bottle which explained the overheating. The fan wasn't running either when I stopped which made me suspicoius too.
I topped it up with some water (had no coolant to hand), and drove home and the car was fine temperature wise. Checked the coolant level again, and it had dropped right down. So it seems to be loosing coolant, but there are no obvious leaks, no dripping or crystal formations anywhere. I'm hoping this isn't the head gasket on the way out! Any ideas for probing this problem?
I had noticed the car is a little lumpy on idle recently and on start up it is very rough and has very low power for several seconds before kicking into life. I know one of my HTs looks a little tatty, which might not be helping; but these two things happening at the same time is a little worrying.
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Sounds like head gasket to me - not exactly unknown on these Renaults.
Rough on start-up = water on plugs.
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I was fearing this much :(
Anyone want to buy a Megane, its a good runner? Honest!
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I agree sounds like the head gaskets blown - I would advise a skim and a timing belt kit to be fitted at the same time as well.
good luck
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Typically I only had the cambelt changed a couple of months ago!!
What are the chances of it needing a skim?
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The sooner you get it looked at, the less chance that it will be really expensive! If it's just a slight weep at present from a failed gasket then the head should be OK. Don't delay!
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Before you change the head gasket, top it up with water and rev the engine whilst looking at the engine, some meganes have a plastic water housing bolted to the engine which can become flexible and start leaking at the gasket. Seems to show up best when under pressure and reving the engine. This also usually sprays water onto the HT leads/coil packs.
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I did a check of water leaking while the engine was running and everything was fine. It is definitely the HG, unfortunately. There's a bit of mayo on the oil filler cap which I never got before.
I've got stuck into the job now, and got pretty much everything off bar the head itself. The headbolts are drive TX type bolts which wasn't mentioned by Mr Haynes! So I'll have to hunt down a tool for that. Got plenty of Torx bits, but no TX sockets :/
Hopefully the head will be OK, I've quite literally driven 20 miles since I noticed the coolant plummeting and the rough startup. So I can't see the engine has suffered much at all with a bit of a overheating for a few minutes.
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